Matt Fitzpatrick Wins Rain-Plagued Dunhill Links Championship

The 2022 U.S. Open champion prevailed Monday after the event was shortened to 54 holes.
Matt Fitzpatrick Wins Rain-Plagued Dunhill Links Championship
Matt Fitzpatrick Wins Rain-Plagued Dunhill Links Championship /

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick captured his first DP World Tour title in two years by winning the weather-affected Dunhill Links Championship by three strokes on Monday.

The 2022 U.S. Open champion shot 6-under 66 on the Old Course at St. Andrews to finish on 19 under par overall for an event that was reduced to 54 holes after heavy rain wiped out play on Saturday and Sunday.

Matt Fitzpatrick celebrates with the trophy at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews.
Matt Fitzpatrick won on Monday for the first time in two years on the DP World Tour :: Steve Welsh/PA Images via Getty Images

Play was only possible on Monday after remarkable efforts from the greenkeepers at the three storied Scottish courses hosting the pro-am event—St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns—to make them playable.

Large parts of Carnoustie, in particular, were unrecognizable on Sunday and there were still huge swathes of water on some fairways.

Ryan Fox, a recent winner at the BMW PGA Championship, shot 65 on the Old Course and was tied for second place with Matthew Southgate (66 at St. Andrews) and Marcus Armitage (66 at Carnoustie).

Fitzpatrick, who won the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour in April, hadn’t won on the DP World Tour since the Andalucia Masters in October 2021. This latest title comes a week after he was part of Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning team in Rome, where he claimed his first point in golf’s biggest show after five straight losses across away matches in 2016 and 2021.

He played with his mother, Susan, in the pro-am at the Dunhill Links—and they won, too.

“It’s funny really, it was kind of a freewheeling week—playing with mum and just trying to enjoy it the best I can and see what happened,” said Fitzpatrick, who had pictures taken with his mother on the Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole and then made birdie from 10 feet.

The 29-year-old Englishman shot 67 at Carnoustie on Thursday and 64 at Kingsbarns on Friday.

A total of 39 players either withdrew or retired ahead of the third and final round.


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